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Dealer Bonus

Introduction

 

The Dealer Bonus is a simple pai gow poker side bet based on the value of the dealer's hand. I first saw it at the Red Rock in Las Vegas on May 26, 2016.

Rules

 

The Dealer Bonus is a side bet based on pai gow poker. Briefly, pai gow poker is played with a 53-card deck, including a partially wild joker. The joker can be used to complete a straight or flush. Otherwise, it is counted as an ace. The player and dealer are each given seven cards. The Dealer Bonus is based on the value of the dealer's seven cards. Following is the pay table. Only the highest qualifying hand pays.

Dealer Bonus

Event Pays
7-card straight flush 500 to 1
Royal flush plus royal match 500 to 1
Five aces 500 to 1
Royal Flush 150 to 1
Straight Flush 50 to 1
Four of a Kind 25 to 1
Full House 4 to 1
Flush 3 to 1
Three of a kind 2 to 1
Straight 2 to 1
Nine high in low hand 5 to 1
 

Analysis

 

Following is my analysis of the Dealer Bonus bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 4.72%.

Dealer Bonus

Event Pays Combinations Probability Return
7-card straight flush 500 228 0.000001 0.000740
Royal flush plus royal match 500 72 0.000000 0.000234
Five aces 500 1,128 0.000007 0.003659
Royal Flush 150 26,020 0.000169 0.025321
Straight Flush 50 184,644 0.001198 0.059894
Four of a Kind 25 307,472 0.001995 0.049868
Full House 4 4,188,528 0.027173 0.108692
Flush 3 6,172,088 0.040041 0.120124
Three of a Kind 2 7,672,500 0.049775 0.099550
Straight 2 11,034,204 0.071584 0.143168
Nine high in low hand 5 3,844,650 0.024942 0.124710
Loser -1 120,711,546 0.783114 -0.783114
Total   154,143,080 1.000000 -0.047154